Liquid level indicator



March 7, 1933. s 5 QRLOW 1,900,433

LIQUID LEVEL INDICATOR Filed Oct. 16, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1 nill/Milli I fiff'T I March 7,1933. 5 DE ORLOW 1,900,433

LIQUID LEVEL INDICATOR Filed Oct. 16. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g-rwemto v524179; 3: 07/01 (1R0: wu A .may be ascertainedat will. ind catingdevlce has been especially deslgned.

as an on and fuel indicator. for motor driven Patented Mar. 7, 19 33.

UNITE D3 STATES:

STEPHEN DE 'ORLOW, OF IIANSING, MICHIGAN LIQUID LEVEL. INDICATORApplication filed- October 16,1926. sen-a1 No. 142,035..

invention aims to'provide a durable, positive and reliable liquid levelindicator by which the level of liquid in a receptacle The liquid levelvehicles inwhich the supply of oil-is maintainedforlubricating purposesand a sup- .ply of fuel, as gasoline, maintained for power purposes. Forinstance, a well known type ofautomobile hasan engine crank caseprovided with superposed pet cocks located in rather an inconvenientplace, because it is ordinarilynecessary to crawl under the automobileto open and close the pet cocks and ascertain the level oflubricatingoil within the crank case incident to replenishingthe oil supply. Tocompletely eliminate lsuch practice my indicating device is substituted.tained. Obviously there are other types of v for the lowermost pet cockand the device is operatable from the dash or instrument board of theautomobile so that the driver or an occupant of the automobile can atany time 25; ascertain the level of oil in the crank case of} theengine. I

Another instance-of usingthe level indicator is that-of a fuel tankinstallation. The

indicating device may be readily mounted in the filling connection orother opening of a gasoline tankand with connections to the dash orinstrument board of an automobile the-level of gasoline and consequentlythe quantity in the tank maybe readily ascer- "receptacles, normallyclosed orinaccessible,

to :which my indicatingdevice is applicable for determining the level ofliquid or the quantity thereof in the receptacle.

, Structurallythe indicating device is char acterized by a non-rotatableand reciprocable float operating in a substantially cylindrical Yrotatable 'hollow stepped gauge member adapted to bemanuallyrota-ted andby virindicate, through the rotation ofthe gauge member, the position ofthe float. Novel means is' employed for rotating the gauge member atwill and indicating the degree of ,rotation'. which bears a definedratio to the position Ioftlie float, whereby the operator of tue ofcontact with an abutment of i the fioatthe gauge-member mayobservethe'dial and quickly determine the level or quantity of liquid whichmaintains the float at the'positlon to whichitis gauged.

Compared tooil and gasoline gauges which l have beendesigned for thesame purpose :as my indicatingdevice, there are noparts susceptibletoexcessive wear andzthedevice is practically fool' proof. Otheradvantages PAT NT OFFICE? 1* are gained by two forms of constructionthat.

will now be described by aid of the drawings, wherein Figure 1 is avertical sectional view of the level indicating device tom tankconnection;

as designed fora bot- Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional viewof the" 7Fig. 8 isa longitudinal sectional view of the instrument board equipmentformingpart'ofthedevice; Fig. 9 is anendview of the same,a nd

level indicator for a fuel tank.

Fig. 10, shows a top connection of the liquid 5' inclusive showing anautomobilefengine 1 having a'crank case 2. This crankcase or-fdinarilyhas a bottom I drain connection or. pet, cock-which I is removed "toaccommodate} a hollow screw plug 3-adapted to support V and communicatewith the lower end-"of a goose neck connection 4' adapted to extendoutwardly from under the tank 2; and] upwardly at onesidethereOf.Obviously there are many ways of attachingthefgoose-neckl connection 4:to the tank 2'so as to communicate therewith constantly or at will.

Mounted on the'upper end ofc l g e lo oi neck connection 4 isa-vertically "disposed-cy-r I 5;: Reference will, first be had to Figs.1 to" accommodates an indicating device. The

casing 5 may be dispensed with and simply a depending bracket or bearing46 employed to hold the lower end of the central rod 7. This rod willmaintain the float 12 and the gauge member 19 in operative relationwhereby the indicating device may be manually actuated to ascertain thelevel of gasoline within the tank 45 and by virtue of the dial and itspointer the quantity of gasoline remaining in the tank.

Obviously the steps 20 of the rotary gauge member 19 may be much finerthan shown in the drawings, so that very small changes in the positionof the float 12 may be ascertained by a manual operation, which is incontradistinction to that class of gauges wherein an indicator isautomatically actuated by the rise and fall of the float. There is onlyone automatic operation in connectionwith my device and that is theaction of the spring 21, which after being stressed or tensioned,restores the rotary gauge member to a normal or neutralposition,,whereby it cannot interfere with the rise and fall of thefloat incident to filling or withdrawing liquid from the casing 5.

It is thought that the operation and utility of the indicating device.will be apparent without further description, and, while in the drawingsthere are illustrated the preferred embodiments of my invention, it isto be understood that the structural elements are susceptible to suchvariations and modi- .fications as fall within appended claims.

ll -hat I claim is 1 1. A liquid level indicator comprising a receptacleadapted to receive a quantity of liquid, a fioatable member in saidreceptacle and mounted to permit movement of the member in apredetermined direction by the rise and fall of the liquid level, saidfioatable member carrying an abutment, means for retaimng said fioatablemember a-gainstrota tion, a hollow open-bottom non-fioatable rotatablegauge member axially alined with and receiving said fioatable member andhav ing a stepped face engageable with the abutment of said fioatablemember to limit rotation of the gauge member in one directionmanually-actuated means engagingthe up per end of said gauge member andadapted the scopeof the to rotate it'in said one direction toascertainthe position of the fioatable member in the receptacle, and meansadapted to restore said float mounted in said casing,an abutment ex- Vtending from said float into said groove to hold said float againstrotating in said cas- 1ng, a gauge member in said casing rotatablerelatively. to said float, said gauge member having stepped portionsadapted to engage";

said'abutment, and level indicating means associated'with said gaugemember. 1

3. In an indicator for determining the liq 1nd level in a receptacle, anon-rotatable floatable member carrying an abutment and mounted to bemovable with the rise and fall of the liquid level in a predeterminedpath,

a hollow open-bottom non-fioatable rotatable gauge member supportedco-axially with the fioatable member, said gauge member having a steppedface adaptedto permit engagement of a stepwith the abutment of thefioatable member by rotation of the gauge member, and'means connectedwith and adapted to rotate said gauge member. 1

4. In an indicator for determining the'liquld level in a receptacle, anon-rotatable floatable member mounted to move in accordance wlth therise and fall of the liquid level in a predetermined path, a rotatablegauge member having a stepped face normally out of engagement with thefioatable member and adapted to engage one of the steps of the face withthe fioatable member by rotation of the gauge member, the step engagedbeing determined by the position of the fioatable member, andindependent means for rotatmg the gauge member to provide movements ofthegauge member to and from its non-en.- gaging position.

5. 'In an indicator uid level in a receptacle, a stepped" gauge membersupported within the receptacle'and rotatable to move the steps'incircular paths,

for determining the liq a member, the step engaged being determined 1 bythe vided byt-he liquid level. V V i V In testimony whereof I aflix mysignature. 1 STEPHEN DE ORLOW;

position of the fioatable member pro-

